Packaged system for the production of chemical compounds from renewable energy resources

ABSTRACT

A packaged system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources may include a first component, a second component and a third component. The first component may be operative for storing and distributing a source of input energy. The second component may be coupled to the first component and may be operative for receiving a source of electricity from the first component and generating hydrogen from a source of water. The third component may be coupled to the second component and may be operative for receiving hydrogen from the second component and generating anhydrous ammonia.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to a U.S. provisional application filed on Nov. 11, 2005 and assigned U.S. Ser. No. 60/736,114. U.S. Ser. No. 60/736,114 is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

FIELD

The present teachings relate generally to packaged system for the production of chemical compounds from renewable energy resources. More particularly, the present teachings relate to a packaged system that may be used to produce ammonia and related chemical compounds from renewable energy resources, including but not limited to wind, geothermal and tidal resources. While not limited thereto, in one particular embodiment the present teachings are directed to a wind turbine system for the generation of ammonia.

INTRODUCTION

It is common to construct elevated wind turbines for the generation of electrical power. Multiple wind turbines located closely together, called “wind farms”, must necessarily be near power transmission substations (power grid) so that it is possible to connect to the power grid for the sale of the electrical energy that is generated. Economic risks arise because the grid may not be willing to pay for the power when the wind farm can generate it. Conversely, at the time that the grid most needs the additional power and is willing to pay a premium for it, the wind may not be sufficiently strong for the wind turbines to produce the needed power.

Accordingly, it remains a need in the art to provide a system which overcomes the disadvantages associated with known wind farms, including but not limited to those disadvantages discussed above.

SUMMARY

The present teachings provide a system that makes it economically attractive to build wind farms in locations far away from power transmission substations. A portion (ranging from 0% to 100%) of the electrical energy created by the wind turbines may be used to power an on-site ammonia (or hydrogen or other chemical) production plant. The production plant may be of the type requiring no human attendance.

According to one aspect, the present teachings provide a packaged system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources. The packaged system may include a first component, a second component and a third component. The first component may be operative for storing and distributing a source of input energy. The second component may be coupled to the first component and may be operative for receiving a source of electricity from the first component and generating hydrogen from a source of water. The third component may be coupled to the second component and may be operative for receiving hydrogen from the second component and generating anhydrous ammonia.

According to another aspect, the present teachings provide a packaged system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources including an energy control and storage system, a hydrogen generator and an ammonia generator. The energy control and storage system may be coupled to a source of input energy. The energy control and storage system may be operative for storing and distributing the source of input energy. The hydrogen generator may be coupled to the energy control and storage system and may be operative for receiving a source of electricity from the energy control and storage system and generating hydrogen from a source of water. The ammonia generator may be coupled to the hydrogen generator and may be operative for receiving hydrogen from the hydrogen generator and generating anhydrous ammonia.

According to another aspect, the present teachings provide a method of generating ammonia from renewable energy resources. The method includes receiving a primary source of input energy from at least one renewable energy resource. The method further includes operating a first component to store and control the distribution of the input energy. The method further includes generating hydrogen from the input energy and a source of water. The method still further includes generating ammonia from the generated hydrogen and a source of nitrogen.

Further areas of applicability of the present teachings will become apparent from the description and appended claims provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the various examples of the present teachings, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the teachings.

DRAWINGS

The present teachings will become more fully understood from the detailed description, the appended claims and the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic view illustrating the general components of a system for the production of chemical compounds from renewable energy resources constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is another simplified schematic view illustrating the general components of another system for the production of chemical compounds from renewable energy resources constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS ASPECTS

The following description is merely exemplary in nature and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. It will be understood that corresponding reference numerals indicate like or corresponding parts and features throughout the drawings. The description and any specific examples, while indicating embodiments of the present disclosure, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Moreover, recitation of embodiments having stated features is not intended to exclude other embodiments having additional features, or other embodiments incorporating different combinations of the stated features.

With reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a packaged system for the production of chemical compounds from renewable energy resources in accordance with the present teachings is illustrated and generally identified at reference character 10. As used herein, the term “packaged” is intended to mean that the system 10 may be transported. Explaining further, the system 10 may include a plurality of components that may be modularly shipped and assembled on site.

The system 10 may generally include a first component 12. The first component 12 may be operative to store and distribute energy for operating the system 10. The first component or energy control and storage component 12 may receive input energy from one or more renewable sources of energy. The one or more sources of renewable energy may include wind energy from a plurality of wind farm turbines 14. The wind farm turbines 14 will be understood to be conventional in construction and operation insofar as the present teachings or concerned unless otherwise described herein.

The wind turbines 14 may provide electrically energy or mechanical energy. With respect to the provision of electrical energy, the wind turbines 14 may be associated with conventional power electronics 16 for the generation of electricity from wind. The system 10 may alternatively or additionally receive mechanical energy from the wind turbines 14. In this regard, the wind turbines 14 may be utilized to pneumatically or hydraulically compress air for the storage of mechanical energy, for example. This mechanical energy may be stored until needed by the system 10.

The system 10 may utilize other forms of renewable energy. In this regard, geothermal energy may be collected. In certain applications, the present teachings may collect tidal energy. Other renewable resources may be additionally employed within the scope of the present teachings.

The first component 12 may be used to monitor the remainder of the system 10 and store and distribute energy in accordance with the energy needs of the system. The first component 12 may be optionally coupled to an energy grid 18. Electricity from the energy grid 18 may be used as a supplemental source of input energy. As will be discussed below, the first component 12 may operate in a first mode to receive electricity from the energy grid 18 and may operate in a second mode to send electricity to the grid 18.

The system 10 may further include a second component 20 for the generation of hydrogen (h₂). The second component or hydrogen generator 20 may generate hydrogen from electricity received from the first component 12 and a source of water 22. It will be understood that the technology for generating hydrogen is conventional insofar as the present teachings are concerned.

The system 10 may further include a third component 24. The third component 24 is operative to generate ammonia. In one particular application, the third component 24 is operative to generate anhydrous ammonia. The ammonia may be generated with a Haber-Bosch process that directly synthesizes ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen. The hydrogen generator 20 may expel oxygen as a by-product.

The third component or ammonia generator 24 may be controlled by the first component 12. The ammonia generator 24 may be in communication with the hydrogen generator 20 for receiving hydrogen. The system 10 may include an in-line compressor 26 controlled by the first component 12 for selectively delivering a metered amount of hydrogen from the second component 20 to the third component 24.

The ammonia generator 24 may be coupled to a source of ambient air 28. Insofar as ambient air is approximately 80% nitrogen, the ambient air will provide sufficient nitrogen for the ammonia generator. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the ambient air 28 may need to be filtered and/or compressed to separate nitrogen from the ambient air to a liquid state. The system 10 may include a second in-line compressor 30 controlled by the first component 12 for selectively delivering a metered amount of ambient air 28 to the ammonia generator 24. The ammonia generator 24 may expel nitrogen and hydrogen as by-products.

Anhydrous ammonia may be transferred from the ammonia generator 24 to storage tanks 32. The storage tanks 32 may be coupled to the ammonia generator 24 through an output compressor 34. At this point, the anhydrous ammonia may be shipped or otherwise distributed.

For particular applications, system efficiencies may demand substantially continuous operation of the ammonia generator 24. The first component 12 may control the system 10 for the substantially continuous operation of the ammonia generator 24. Where adequate input energy is available from the one or more renewable sources of energy, the system 10 may be exclusively operated on the renewable sources of energy. Where adequate input energy is not available from the renewable sources of energy to maintain a desired level of production or to provide continuous operation, the first component 12 may operate in the first mode to draw energy from the grid 18. The energy drawn from the grid 18 may supplement the energy from the renewable sources or may exclusively power the system 10.

Under certain operating conditions, the renewable sources of energy may provide an amount of energy in excess of that needed for operation of the system. This excess input energy may be stored by the first component 12. Alternatively, the first component 12 may operate in the second mode and this excess input energy may be distributed to the power grid 18. This electric energy distributed to the power grid 18 may provide an additional source of income. The first component 12 may operate to selectively return electricity to the power grid 18 depending on the demand for electricity from the grid 18.

The first component 12 may operate to distribute electricity to the grid 18 only when there is sufficient demand to command a predetermined price for the electricity. This capability may make it more profitable to operate wind farms that are located near power transmission substations. When the price that the power grid 18 is willing to pay falls below a predetermined price or pre-set trigger price, the output from the wind farm may be shifted to the production of ammonia (or hydrogen or other chemical). In this manner, existing wind farms may be able to maximize their use of wind power and, correspondingly, their profitability.

Turning to FIG. 2, another system for the production of chemical compounds from renewable energy resources in accordance with the present teachings is illustrated and generally identified at reference character 100. The system 100 is illustrated to generally include a plurality of wind turbines 18 and a hydrogen generation system 102. A facility may be located remotely (or alternatively also on site) to produce energy pellets 104 containing the hydrogen (or ammonia or other chemical) adsorbed onto a solid substrate. Safe, high-density methods for storing hydrogen and ammonia in this manner currently exist. The energy pellets may later be sold and transported to customer locations, where the energy contained in the pellets is released or the pellets are resold.

While specific examples have been described in the specification and illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalence may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the present teachings as defined in the claims. Furthermore, the mixing and matching of features, elements and/or functions between various examples may be expressly contemplated herein so that one skilled in the art would appreciate from the present teachings that features, elements and/or functions of one example may be incorporated into another example as appropriate, unless described otherwise above. Moreover, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the present teachings without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it may be intended that the present teachings not be limited to the particular examples illustrated by the drawings and described in the specification as the best mode of presently contemplated for carrying out the present teachings but that the scope of the present disclosure will include any embodiments following within the foregoing description and the appended claims. 

1. A system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources, the system comprising: a first component for storing and distributing input energy; a second component coupled to the first component, the second component operative for receiving a source of electricity from the first component and generating hydrogen from a source of water; and a third component coupled to the second component, the third component operative for receiving hydrogen from the second component and generating anhydrous ammonia.
 2. The system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 1, wherein the first, second and third components are modular components of the system.
 3. The system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 1, wherein the first component receives input energy from a plurality of wind turbines.
 4. The system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 1, wherein the first component receives input energy from a power grid.
 5. The system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 3, in combination with the plurality of wind turbines.
 6. The system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 5, wherein the first component is operable in a first mode to receive electricity from the power grid and in a second mode to distribute electricity to the power grid.
 7. The system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 6, wherein the first component operates in the first mode when other sources of input energy are insufficient to maintain continuous operation of the third component.
 8. The system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 6, wherein the first component operates in the second mode when demand for electricity on the power grid will support a predetermined price.
 9. A system for the production of ammonia from renewable energy resources, the packaged system comprising: an energy control and storage system coupled to a source of input energy, the energy control and storage system operative for storing and distributing the source of input energy; a hydrogen generator coupled to the energy control and storage system, the hydrogen generator operative for receiving a source of electricity from the energy control and storage system and generating hydrogen from a source of water; and an ammonia generator coupled to the hydrogen generator, the ammonia generator operative for receiving hydrogen from the hydrogen generator and generating anhydrous ammonia.
 10. A method of generating ammonia from renewable energy resources comprising: receiving a primary source of input energy from at least one renewable energy resource; operating a first component to store and control the distribution of the input energy; generating hydrogen from the input energy and a source of water; and generating ammonia from the generated hydrogen and a source of nitrogen.
 11. The method of generating ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 14, further comprising receiving a supplemental source of input energy from a power grid.
 12. The method of generating ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 10, further comprising operating the first component in a first mode to receive the supplemental source of input energy from the power grid and a second mode to send electricity to the power grid.
 13. The method of generating ammonia from renewable energy resources of claim 12, wherein the first component is operated in the first mode when the at least one renewable energy resource is insufficient to maintain continuous operation of the third component
 14. The method of generating ammonia compounds from renewable energy resources of claim 12, wherein the first component is operated in the second mode when demand for electricity on the power grid will support a predetermined price. 